AUSTIN - Four senators on Tuesday called on Texas Finance Commission Chairman William J. White to resign because of comments White he made about people who use pay-day lending services.

Sens. Rodney Ellis, John Whitmire and Sylvia Garcia, Houston-area Democrats, wrote a letter calling for the resignation of White, an appointee of Gov. Rick Perry. Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso, echoed the call in an interview.

"We are writing to ask that you voluntarily resign your post as Chairman of the Finance Commission of Texas as soon as practicable," the senators' letter to White says. "Your recent comments published in the El Paso Times on Dec. 29, 2013 contradict your duties as the presiding officer and member of the Finance Commission and have eroded our confidence that you can perform the responsibilities assigned to you by statute with fairness and without prejudice."

The finance commission oversees the Office of the Consumer Credit Commissioner, the state's lending watchdog. White also is a vice president of payday lender Cash America, a company that in November was the subject of $19 million in federal sanctions for abusive practices.

In the December interview, White said his company's customers were to blame for making bad decisions if they found themselves stuck in high-interest payday and title loans.

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The person who answered the phone at the finance commission on Tuesday said she had been instructed to refer calls about White to Cash America.

Yolanda Walker, Cash America's vice president for public relations, said her company stands by a statement it issued last week saying that the company does not believe White's positions as a company employee and chairman of the finance commission are a conflict of interest.

The senators calling for White to step down said his statements show that he doesn't understand his role as chairman of the commission.

"Your recent comments betray both the mission and the responsibility of the finance commission and the Office of Consumer Credit to protect consumer interests and to foster economic prosperity," the letter said. "In the interview with the El Paso Times, you are quoted as questioning the motivation of payday loan borrowers and suggest that borrowers may be using the loans for less than necessary items.

"As the presiding officer of the finance commission you should be well aware that most consumers of payday or auto-title loans use them to pay for unexpected emergencies or for ordinary expenses because they simply do not make enough to make ends meet."

In calling for White's resignation, the senators are joining a heated battle between the likely candidates for Texas governor. Sen. Wendy Davis, a Democrat, called on Perry last week to remove White.

Since then, Davis has been sniping at her opponent, Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott, for refusing to say whether he supports White or wants to reform the payday-lending industry.

Abbott's campaign was asked again Tuesday whether he supports reforms such as those passed by several Texas cities and whether he supports White.

"As governor, Greg Abbott would be open to any reforms that will make Texas better," his press secretary, Avdiel Huerta said in an email.

Abbott last week responded to Davis' attacks on White by pointing out that Davis and every Senate Democrat except Kirk Watson voted in 2011 to confirm White and scores of other Perry nominees.

Abbott also noted that Davis twice passed up opportunities to change laws requiring that industry representatives such as White serve on the finance commission.

In their letter, Whitmire, Ellis and Garcia took on those arguments.

"By requiring by statute that one member of the finance commission be a consumer-credit executive, the Legislature hoped the requirement would bring knowledge and expertise of the industry to regulation enforcement and that any conflicts of interest would and must be avoided," the letter says.

"In confirming your appointment as chairman, as with all our Senate colleagues, we trusted you to perform the duties assigned to the post judiciously with the goal of protecting Texas consumers," it continued. "Turning the focus and blame towards the consumer as you did in your interview severely calls into question your ability to do so."

In 2012, 35,000 Texans' vehicles were repossessed by title lenders, the letter said, adding that 32 percent of people seeking assistance from charitable organizations reported being in debt to payday and title lenders.

Rodriguez said it's obvious that White should leave the finance commission.

"I think it's simply outrageous that somebody like him can pretend that he can be objective," he said. "It paints a picture of how indifferent and callous these guys are."